SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Medical organizations from across the country, including a research group in Salt Lake City, announced a concerted effort to call for more research and federal dollars for COVID-19 long-haul drivers.
The goal is to find out why some people experience side effects for months after recovering from the virus.
New data suggests that up to 30% of people who get COVID-19 could experience the effects up to nine months later.
For Salt Lake City long-distance rider Tisha Kirth, any sign of help has brought much hope.
“I was sick for 36 days – very, very sick. It was very horrible, ”she said.
Kirth spent about three days in the hospital and said her oxygen levels were low even on a good day. All of this happened despite the fact that she had every expectation that she would just bounce back.
“From a very healthy person, very active, nothing slows me down – my husband and I have very active lives – to knowing how I’m going to feel day by day,” she said.
She tested positive for the virus back in July and is still looking into the effects.
“Brain fog is coming back, body ache, pretty much all of the symptoms I had when I had COVID are coming back,” she described.
Now there is hope for long-distance riders like her. The Bateman Horne Center in Salt Lake City is one of 50 organizations across the country, including COVID-19 Long Distance Funders in Utah, advocating for long distance funding and urging further research.
“We really hope that we can raise awareness of these diseases in the community,” said Dr. Brayden Yellman of the Bateman Horne Center. “These are very silent diseases. People are disabled and at home and they are kind of unheard, unnoticed voices. “
The center has already studied chronic diseases such as fibromyalgia, which similarly can occur after a viral infection.
Kirth was encouraged by the fact that people like her might get more help soon.
“I have hope. I have hope now,” she said. “They are researching it and hopefully they will find a cure so we can get our lives back.”
Doctors at the Bateman Horne Center said this new alliance could help boost funding from the National Institutes of Health for further research.
Some of the latest results are available on their website.
If you are struggling with persistent COVID-19 symptoms, find support on the COVID-19 Long Haulers Utah Facebook page.
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